


2/14

by Ace of Jokers (AceOfJokers)



Category: Kamen Rider Den-O
Genre: M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-24 01:53:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17695370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOfJokers/pseuds/Ace%20of%20Jokers
Summary: He returned to the kitchen a few minutes later with the kit under one arm, a slightly-bruised shin, and a determined expression nevertheless. Chocolate was happening today, even if it killed him.… Which it wouldn’t, of course. That would be ridiculous, even for him.[In which Koutarou tries his hand at chocolate-making for a certain someone. How much trouble can one kitchen possibly contain, anyway?]





	2/14

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, so here's a ficlet that's been sitting on my phone for uh, literal years at this point. But I wanted to wait until the _appropriate day_ to post it, so... Here we are! Please, enjoy~

Koutarou stared down at his assembled supplies, brow knit in intense concentration. This shouldn’t have been such a challenge. Hundreds of thousands of people - no, tens of millions, if you considered time the way Den-Liner did - were doing this right now, no problem. … Or at least doing it without staring with dread for ten minutes, first. Probably. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to pick up the instructions. This would be easy! It couldn’t go _too_ wrong, right?

After all, it was only making chocolate.

He’d debated on whether to do it or not for a while before this point. His and Teddy’s relationship was… unusual, to say the least; he hadn’t been certain whether giving chocolates was a ‘them’ thing at all, much less which one of them should be doing it. But… Teddy did a lot for him, probably more than he could ever repay. And he _did_ love Teddy, more than anyone. So as Valentine’s Day approached, he’d decided to trust that Teddy would understand his intent and give it a shot.

… With some store-bought chocolate waiting in the fridge as backup, of course. He wasn’t _delusional_.

So anyway. Step one was, apparently, breaking a chocolate bar up into chunks. The recipe said ‘chop,’ actually, but…

He glanced sidelong at the knives in their knife-block.

Then, in a move that probably would have seemed crazy to anyone else, he turned around and abruptly busied himself buttering a piece of bread. And, carefully holding it by the edge, dropped it onto the floor.

_Flop._

Butter-side down.

He repeated the experiment a few more times with the same piece of bread, wincing as he confirmed the same result each time. Then he set the bread aside, to be tossed out to the animals in the park later. Right, then. This was possibly not a good day. Best not to risk it. He’d bought segmented chocolate under the assumption this might happen, and he carefully broke it by hand, moving slowly to ensure each piece ended up in the bowl. Half still ended up all over the room, somehow; sighing, he pulled out the second bar he’d bought. That… was going to be an awful mess to clean up later…

Never mind. Step one was done. He nodded cheerfully, and picked the instructions back up - nicking himself with a papercut in the process. _Definitely best to avoid knives then,_ he mused, as he jammed the injured finger into his mouth.

Step two was ‘scalding’ some heavy cream; step three, pouring it over the chocolate while still hot. He frowned at the instructions for a moment, still nursing the papercut absent-mindedly.

Then, sighing, he went to get the first-aid kit. Stoves were not his friend, even on good days. He returned to the kitchen a few minutes later with the kit under one arm, a slightly-bruised shin, and a determined expression nevertheless. Chocolate was _happening_ today, even if it killed him.

… Which it wouldn’t, of course. That would be ridiculous, even for him.

Four small burns and three thankfully-minor spills later, he’d gotten the majority of the cream into the bowl, and he began stirring it with a whisk as he checked the battered instructions once more. There was an optional step on adding extra ingredients, which he’d already elected to skip. Just getting anything edible would be good enough by his standards. No need to add any more complications. So, then, that left pouring it out, decorating, and leaving it to cool. He glanced around the room, already a minor mess of cream, bits of chocolate, butter, and somehow some flour - oh, right, he’d tripped over a bag earlier. It was probably a bit sad that this had barely even registered to him. Definitely a bad day today, but oh, well…

The rest of the process went relatively without a hitch, to his surprise.

Sure, only about 30% of the chocolate ended up where intended, and sure, there’d been a minor spontaneous fire from that treacherous stove (okay, maybe he’d accidentally left it on; still, screw stoves). But decorating had definitely gone okay, and now all that was left was cleanup and waiting. So, so much cleanup and waiting. He _really_ hoped Teddy liked chocolate.

 

* * *

 

 

Koutarou was sitting on the couch nervously when Teddy finally arrived home, apologizing that he’d taken so long. Koutarou just smiled back. He’d arranged for Grandpa’s crew of Imagin to accompany Teddy on his errands, trusting they’d slow everything down satisfactorily. They’d actually been a bit better at it than he’d expected. He filed that knowledge away for later.

Teddy paused near the couch, tilting his head to one side curiously. “Were you… cooking, today?”

Koutarou panicked momentarily - “How can you tell?” - and then Teddy leaned forward, chuckling as he wiped cream frosting off his contract-holder’s face. … _Oh._ He’d been so busy cleaning up the kitchen, he hadn’t thought to check how he himself looked. Probably a mess, judging by the worried ’hmm’s Teddy was making.

“Well, not _exactly_ cooking,” Koutarou said hesitantly, pulling a gift bag out from its hiding place under the coffee table. He held it out in a casual sort of way, without particularly looking, hoping that Teddy wouldn’t notice how his hands were shaking.

He _did_ look to see Teddy’s reaction, though, once the quiet Imagin set his own bags down on the coffee table and took the proffered one. Surprise radiated from him in every manner but expression; an unusual look for him.

“Oh, my. Is it - may I?” he asked, all perfectly stunned politeness, and Koutarou nodded. He opened the bag, and removed one of the little heart-shaped chocolates. “… For Valentine’s Day?”

“Well, I, I mean, it’s no big deal, really,” Koutarou flustered, tripping over his own tongue and suddenly feeling immense sympathy for every person (however few) who’d ever wasted chocolates on him during high-school. This took more courage than he’d thought. “You don’t have to take ’em if you don’t -”

Teddy popped the chocolate into his mouth, suddenly, a deft angle to his hand hiding the details of the affair. Koutarou had long since given up on figuring out how any Imagin ever ate or drank anything, but it still startled him into silence.

“It’s… really good,” Teddy said, at length.

“Really?” Koutarou asked, automatically disbelieving in spite of himself.

Teddy was already pulling another out of the bag as he moved to sit next to him, which was almost an answer in and of itself. “You didn’t taste any?”

Koutarou shook his head. “No, I couldn’t make that many, so…” he replied, realizing in a jolt how terrible of an idea that could’ve been. What if they’d been awful? A small stroke of luck that they weren’t, then; or maybe a large one, considering the state of his luck in particular.

“Here, try one,” Teddy offered. Koutarou hesitated, but quickly caved out of sheer curiosity. He nibbled just at the edge, remembering in time that sometimes Imagin tastes didn’t entirely line up with human ones.

This seemed to be one occasion where they did, however. Admittedly, the texture was a bit uneven, when he popped the rest of it into his mouth, but… The taste _was_ good. Overall, probably not bad for his first attempt. He looked over at Teddy to comment as such, only to find the blue Imagin in the middle of eating another one already. Oh, goodness, how many were even left…?

“I take it you like sweets, then, Teddy?” He half-asked, half-teased, resting a hand on his arm.

Teddy froze in the middle of reaching into the bag again, a slightly-empty rustling noise confirming that, yes, he _had_ eaten most of them. “Well, a bit,” he replied, just a smidge dishonestly, not quite meeting Koutarou’s gaze.

… Oh, damn, that was actually pretty cute. Koutarou found himself seriously considering making chocolate again soon, practically before he even realized it. Maybe next week? “Guess it’s a good thing I bought some extra chocolates too, then. They’re still in the fridge.”

Teddy’s face instantly lit up, inasmuch as it could.

… Okay, maybe even tomorrow. Maybe.

While his self-preservation waged a losing war against his affection, Teddy - to his surprise - set down the bag of chocolates and took one of Koutarou’s hands into his. He wondered, briefly, whether the chocolates weren’t already gone, but…

“You injured yourself,” Teddy commented, turning Koutarou’s hand over and brushing gently over the bandaged burns on his fingers, his dark eyes quiet and concerned.

Koutarou shrugged. “Only a little. It’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t have to, you know,” he continued, still quiet. His fingers moved onto Koutarou’s unburnt palm, tracing small, comforting circles on it. “And I didn’t get you anything special today…”

“Did you like them? The chocolates?”

“… Yes.”

“Then it’s fine. I’m happy.” Koutarou replied simply, leaning against Teddy in the careful way that avoided his (admittedly dull) spikes. It was never wholly comfortable, but he liked being in contact with Teddy too much to care. “Plus, I’m pretty sure only one of us is supposed to give a gift today, so that’s fine too.”

There was a thoughtful pause, and then… “Well, I suppose I’ll have to start thinking about White Day, then,” Teddy gracefully dropped the subject, smiling as he squeezed Koutarou’s hand slightly. “… Thank you, Koutarou.”

Koutarou smiled back, closed his eyes, and focused on the quiet, warm sensation of being with his favorite person.

It was a good day.


End file.
